"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon
you."
An important work of the Holy Spirit is to teach us how to pray,
instruct us what to pray for, and inspire us to pray earnestly,
without ceasing, and in faith, for the things we desire and the
things that are dear to the heart of the Lord.
In a familiar verse, the poet Montgomery says:
"Prayer is the burden of a sigh,
The falling of a tear,
The upward glancing of the eye,
When none but God is near."
And no doubt he is right. Prayer is exceedingly simple. The
faintest cry for help, a whisper for mercy, is prayer. But when
the Holy Spirit comes and fills the soul with His blessed
presence, prayer becomes more than a cry; it ceases to be a
feeble request, and often becomes a strife (Romans xv. 30; Col.
iv. 12) for greater things, a conflict, an invincible argument, a
wrestling with God, and through it men enter into the Divine
councils and rise into a blessed and responsible fellowship in
some important sense with the Father and the Son in the moral
government of the world.
It was in this spirit and fellowship that Abraham prayed for
Sodom (Genesis xviii. 23-32); that Moses interceded for Israel,
and stood between them and God's hot displeasure (Exodus xxxii.
7-14); and that Elijah prevailed to shut up the heavens for three
years and six months, and then again prevailed in his prayer for
rain.
God would have us come to Him not only as a foolish and ignorant
child comes, but as an ambassador to his home government; as a
full-grown son who has become of age and entered into partnership
with his father; as a bride who is one in all interests and affections
with the bridegroom.
He would have us "come boldly to the throne of grace" with a
well-reasoned and Scriptural understanding of what we desire, and
with a purpose to "ask," "seek," and "knock" till we get the
thing we wish, being assured that it is according to His will;
and this boldness is not inconsistent with the profoundest
humility and a sense of utter dependence; indeed, it is always
accompanied by self-distrust and humble reliance upon the merits
of Jesus, else it is but presumption and unsanctified conceit.
This union of assurance and humility, of boldness and dependence,
can be secured only by the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and only
so can one be prepared and fitted for such prayer.
Three great obstacles hinder mighty prayer:
1. selfishness; 2, unbelief; 3, the darkness of ignorance and
foolishness. The baptism with the Spirit sweeps away these
obstacles and brings in the three great essentials to prayer--1,
faith; 2, love, Divine love; 3, the light of heavenly knowledge
and wisdom.
1. Selfishness must be cast out by the incoming of love. The
ambassador must not be seeking personal ends, but the interests
of his government and the people he represents; the son must not
be seeking private gain, but the common prosperity of the
partnership in which he will fully and lawfully share; the bride
must not forget him to whom she belongs, and seek separate ends,
but in all ways identify herself with her husband and his
interests.
So the child of God must come in prayer, unselfishly.
It is the work of the Holy Spirit, with our co-operation and glad
consent, to search and destroy selfishness out of our hearts, and
fill them with pure love to God and man. And when this is done we
shall not then be asking for things amiss to consume them upon
our lusts, to gratify our appetites, or pride, or ambition, or
ease, or vain-glory. We shall seek only the glory of our Lord and
the common good of our fellow-men, in which, as co-workers and
partners, we shall have a common share. If we ask for success, it
is not that we may be exalted, but that God may be glorified;
that Jesus may secure the purchase of His blood; that men may be
saved, and the Kingdom of Heaven be established upon earth.
If we ask for daily bread, it is not that we may be full, but
that we may be fitted for daily duty. If we ask for health, it is
not alone that we may be free from pain and filled with physical
comfort, but that we may be spent "in publishing the sinner's
Friend," in fulfilling the work for which God has placed us here.
2. Unbelief must be destroyed. Doubt paralyzes prayer. Unbelief
quenches the spirit of intercession. Only as the eye of faith
sees our Father God upon the Throne guaranteeing to us rights and
privileges by the blood of His Son, and inviting us to come
without fear, and make our wants known, does prayer rise from the
commonplace to the sublime; does it cease to be a feeble, timid
cry, and become a mighty spiritual force, moving God Himself in
the interests which it seeks.
Men, wise with the wisdom of this world, but poor and naked and
blind and foolish in matters of faith, ask: "Will God change His
plans at the request of man?" And we answer, "Yes," since many of
God's plans are made contingent upon the prayers of His people,
and He has ordered that prayer offered in faith, according to His
will, revealed in His word, shall be one of the controlling
factors in His government of men.
Is it God's will that the tides of the Atlantic and Pacific
should sweep across the Isthmus of Panama? That men should run
under the Alps? That thoughts and words should be winged across
the ocean without any visible or tangible medium? Yes; it is His
will, if men will it, and work to these ends in harmony with His
great physical laws. So in the spiritual world there are wonders
wrought by prayer, and God wills the will of His people when they
come to Him in faith and love.
What else is meant by such promises and assurances as these:
"Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye
pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them" (Mark
xi. 24); "The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in
its working. Elijah was a man of like passions with us, and he
prayed fervently that it might not rain; and it rained not on the
earth for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and
the heavens gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit"
(James v. 16-18. American Revision).
The Holy Spirit dwelling within the heart helps us to understand
the things we may pray for, and the heart that is full of love
and loyalty to God only wants what is lawful. This is mystery to
people who are under the dominion of selfishness and the darkness
of unbelief, but it is a soul-thrilling fact to those who are
filled with the Holy Ghost.
"What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee?" asked Jesus of the
blind man (Luke xviii. 41).
He had respect to the will of the blind man, and granted his
request, seeing he had faith. And He still has respect to the
vigorous, sanctified will of His people--the will that has been
subdued by consecration and faith into loving union with His
will.
The Lord answered Abraham on behalf of Sodom till he ceased to
ask.
"The Lord has had His way so long with Hudson Taylor," said a
friend, "that now, Hudson Taylor can have his way with the Lord."
Adoniram Judson lay sick with a fatal illness in far-away Burmah.
His wife read to him an account of the conversion of a number of
Jews in Constantinople through some of his writings. For a while
the sick man was silent, and then he spoke with awe, telling his
wife that for years he had prayed that he might be used in some
way to bless the Jews, yet never having seen any evidence that
his prayers were answered; but now, after many years and from far
away, the evidence of answer had come. And then, after further
silence, he spoke with deep emotion, saying that he had never
prayed a prayer for the glory of God and the good of men but
that, sooner or later, even though for the time being he had
forgotten, he found that God had not forgotten, but had
remembered and patiently worked to answer his prayer.
Oh, the faithfulness of God! He means it when He makes promises
and exhorts and urges and commands us to pray. It is not His
purpose to mock us, but to answer and "to do exceeding abundantly
above all that we ask or think." Bless His holy Name!
3. Knowledge and wisdom must take the place of foolish ignorance.
Paul says, "We know not what we should pray for as we ought," and
then adds, "But the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us
with groanings which cannot be uttered" (Romans viii. 26). If my
little child asks for a glittering razor, I refuse its request;
but when my full-grown son asks for one I grant it. So God cannot
wisely answer some prayers, for they are foolish or untimely.
Hence, we need not love and faith only, but wisdom and knowledge,
that we may ask according to the will of God.
It is this that Paul has in mind when he says that he will not
only pray with the Spirit, but "I will pray with the understanding
also" (I Cor. xiv. 15). Men should think before they pray, and
study that they may pray wisely.
Now, when the Holy Spirit comes there pours into the soul not
only a tide of love and simple faith, but a flood of light as
well, and prayer becomes not only earnest, but intelligent also.
And this intelligence increases, as, under the leadership of the
Holy Spirit, the word of God is studied, and its heavenly truths
and principles are grasped and assimilated.
It is thus men come to know God and become His friends, whose
prayers He will assist and will not deny.
Such men talk with God as friend with friend, and the Holy Spirit
helps their infirmities; encourages them to urge their prayer in
faith; teaches them to reason with God; enables them to come
boldly in the name of Jesus, when oppressed with a sense of their
own insignificance and unworthiness; and, when words fail them
and they scarcely know how to voice their desires, He intercedes
within them with unutterable groanings, according to the will of
God (Romans viii. 26, 27; 1 Cor. ii. 11).
A young man felt called to mission work in China, but his mother
offered strong opposition to his going. An agent of the mission,
knowing the need of the work, and vexed with the mother, one day
laid the case before Hudson Taylor.
"Mr. Taylor," said he, "listened patiently and lovingly to all I
had to say, and then gently suggested our praying about it. Such
a prayer I have never heard before! It seemed to me more like a
conversation with a trusted friend whose advice he was seeking.
He talked the matter over with the Friend from every point of
view--from the side of the young man, from the side of China's
needs, from the side of the mother, and her natural feelings, and
also from my side. It was a revelation to me. I saw that prayer
did not mean merely asking for things, much less asking for
things to be carried out by God according to our ideas; but that
it means _communion_, fellowship, partnership, with our
Heavenly Father. And when our will is really blended with His,
what liberty we may have in asking for what we want!"
Hallelujah!
"My soul, ask what thou wilt,
Thou canst not be too bold;
Since His own blood for thee He spilt,
What else can He withhold?"
"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?"